India-China issues expected but can be addressed without conflict, says India foreign minister Jaishankar

(Forelines) – New Delhi and Bejing will have issues in the “foreseeable future” but there are paths to address them without getting into a war, India’s foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar stated on Wednesday.

The two nations in October reached an agreement regarding patrolling along their Himalayan border, thawing a standoff that started in 2020 when 20 Indian and four Chinese troops were killed in clashes.

The conflict impacted multiple aspects of bilateral relations, from air travel to trade and technology.

“We know that, between India and China…at least in the foreseeable future, there will be issues, but there are ways of addressing those issues, and what happened in 2020 was not the way,” India’s Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar stated in a conversation with non-profit Asia Society.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had further stated last week that “trust, enthusiasm, and energy” would return to the equation with Bejing, and that the focus of the nations was to ensure difference do not turn into conflicts.

“We feel that from October…the relationship has seen some improvement…what we are trying, step by step, is to see if we can rebuild, undo some of the damage which happened as a result of the actions in 2020,” stated by S. Jaishankar.

New Delhi and Bejing share a 3,800 km (2,400 mile) border that has been disputed since the 1950s, and have previously gone to conflict over it.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia previous year – their initial official talks since 2020 – and agreed to enhance cooperation and communication, and resolve disputes to improve relations.